THE SPORTS DOCTOR- Promising opener: So should Virginia fans dare to hope?

Will the Cavalier Marching Band continue to have something to march about?PHOTO BY JEANNE SILER

Thank goodness for Blackstone radio. Without it, I couldn't have listened to the UVA game Saturday night, September 4 (thanks for nothing, espn3).

And I did listen to all four quarters, something I haven't been able to stomach for quite a long time. For at least three years I've turned the radio or television off long before the end of all UVA games, sickened by the humiliating death spirals the Cavs routinely entered nearly every third quarter.

But last Saturday came and went with no taunting phone calls from my Hokie in-laws, and even though it was non-conference game, it was a win— a win!

Virginia fans reluctant to show even a little excitement know that one win does not a season make, but don't let anyone steal your joy. I didn't get all the nuances (I love football on the radio, but it's easy to get lost sometimes), but from what I could tell, UVA had a capable passing game and a competent, though improvable, defense– two things they've been missing for a while.

But enough about UVA football (I'm not going to be the one to jinx it). There's another topic to discuss: a racist, profane and homophobic rant. I'm not referring to Dr. Laura; I'm referring to the "Pretty Boy," Floyd "Money" Mayweather.

If you look up the definition of "apology," you'll find remorse and regret are intrinsic to its meaning. If you heard– or even read the transcript of — Mayweather's video rant last Thursday against Manny Pacquiao, you might find it hard to believe that he qualified to use the word.

Mayweather attacked Pacquiao's race, his religion, his sexuality, and his integrity in a diatribe so offensive I can't justify quoting even the shortest excerpt. If you want to hear or read it, you'll have to look it up. Boxing wouldn't be boxing without a little trash talk, but Mayweather's comments are comparable only to Mike Tyson's utterly sincere comment about eating Lennox Lewis' children, and Muhammad Ali's calling Joe Frazier a "gorilla" and an "Uncle Tom." It's hard to believe words so hideous could come from anyone's mouth.

It took two days for Mayweather to utter words more horrible than those; in a public statement, he said, "If anyone was affected from [sic] what I said the other day, I apologize as a man and forgive me for saying what I said. I was just having fun."

What's worse: attacking someone with the most offensive words in the English language or claiming it was "just having fun"? It seems Mayweather, who has often proved himself a coward and a bully, finally proved himself a psycho too.

Secondly, we should all stand up and give Natalie Randolph a big ovation. Last Friday Randolph took her place in history when she took the field as our country's very first female high school varsity football coach. A former UVA track star, she played six seasons as a receiver in the National Women's Football Association. Since her appointment was announced last March, there have been plenty of sexist and downright ugly comments about Randolph, and they're likely to continue, especially as her team, D.C.'s Coolidge Colts, lost their season opener 28-0.

Before you start oozing misogyny from every pore, let me pose this question– when was the last time a man had to break through the glass ceiling? Not only is Natalie Randolph a woman, she's a black woman, and in a sport where even black men aren't often named head coach, by accepting the job and all the nastiness that comes with it, she has already proved she has the toughness, the strength, and the guts to coach football. Enough said.